Metanoia

Description

T.S. Eliot and Tennessee Ernie Ford, Buddha and Jesus, Jung and Heidegger. Love, solitude, obliteration, the ocean and a sad neighbor who feeds pigeons.Metanoiais an aphoristically narrative poem that engages all of these, a book-length meditation on transformation, enlightenment, on opening ones eyes. McCartneys work evinces that journey, the junket into the self.PRAISE FORMETANOIAPart satire, part self-examination, and far more layered than it first appears. Working largely in free verse moving between levity and sincerity in a short spanThe collection is brilliant: short, sharp, and eminently readable. Although it is a quick read, it is a deeply satisfying one.Publishers Weekly, starred reviewSo much is revealed in so few words Its a book that feels light, but its delivery is heavy, and worthy of contemplation McCartney is merciless in exposing vulnerability, but also builds an intimacy integral toMetanoias achievement.Quill & Quire, starred reviewSharon McCartney is something else, a poet with a personal vision who, in work after work, digs deeper into the exposed tissue of her own soul.Numro CinqPRAISE FOR SHARON MCCARTNEYMcCartneys poetic voice is direct, confessional, and, at times, philosophical, examining the nuances of family dynamics, romance, friendship, and illness. These lyric narratives are structured in single-stanza bursts of emotion and infused with plenty of raw vulnerability These poems explore a romance with directness and emotional punch.Jennifer LoveGrove,Quill and QuireNo unnecessary word, no dull word, no stock imagery, every new insight or description at once astonishing and just, everything at once new and yet polished, diamond hard. Her language is brilliant, sensuous, startling, sometimes relaxed and cajoling, sometimes savage.M. Travis Lane,The Antigonish ReviewYou dont read these poems, you feel them: Hammer in the head, shod foot on the throat, stiletto in the heart. Its those combos of wild, piercing insights (or unusual but poignant images); yep, thats what makes it good for youor kills you, laughing.George Elliott Clarke, author ofI & IDarkly obsessive,For and Againstdocuments the rolling flux of lifethe raw wounds of relationships in moments that are, in turn, anguished, edgy, droll, and affectionate. McCartneys poems are an extreme sportone well worth playing.Jeanette Lynes, author ofThe New Blue DistanceMcCartney has shown a delightful felicity in previous books with stapling phrases into the memory.For and Againstexpands this strength with different material, and its a testament to her talent that rawness isnt diminished by an attention to fluency.Brian PalmuWith her unflinching eye and masterful yet never flamboyant command of language, McCartney consistently distinguishes herself from her literary contemporaries.The Oxonian Review